dicor and then eternabond

[yyogi22]

I bought a used 2003 shadow cruiser fun finder 18fbr about a month ago and found this site when doing a search. The camper has only been used a hand full of times and has spent most of its life under a pole shed at the guys house i purchased it from. I purchased this rig about a month ago and do not have a shed to keep it in as of yet. I am preparing to redo all roofing and outside seams/seals and had a couple questions. The dicor is cracked in areas on the roof. I bought a couple tubes of self leveling dicor and plan on filling in these cracks after i clean it thoroughly. I also bought some 2 and 4" eternabond tape to seal it. How long should i wait for the dicor to dry before applying the eternabond? I realize doing both may not be necessary but i want to protect my investment the best i can. Also, the side seals around the windows, lights, and corners are cracked and not properly sealed in certain places. I would like to redo these as well. I bought this stuff called clear 25 which is supposed to be better than geocel for window and side seams. I tried taking utility and putty knife to the seals to get the old stuff off and it just doesnt want to come off. Do you think it would be ok if i just resealed right over top of the old?

[Offspring22]

I'd be concerned about the eternabond tape making any future repairs far more difficult....

As for the window seals, use some silicone remover - should make it much easier to remove. Just remove what you easily can first, apply the silicone remover, and come back 2 hrs later, most of it will come off with a rag. If you're going that far though, I'd pull each window and use some butyl tape between the window frame and the trailer to seal it up for good.

[yyogi22]

Eternabond is supposed to be a perminant fix. Ive done alot of research on the product and havnt came across many negative reviews at all. I guess its alot easier to remove with some sort of heat gun on hot days but ive read alot of positive things about the product.

As far as the windows are concerned, the windows are actually sealed well. Its more along the seams in the corners and trailer lights that need it but i figured id do the windows while im at it. I dont know what they used to seal the camper at the factory but it doesnt look or feel like silicone. Seems like its some other kind of rubber adhesive. Everything i have read has pretty much said to stay away from silicone based products for sealing the outside of your camper so do you still think this solvent would work?

[webslave]

It definitely isn't silicon from the factory...

Silicon is one of the worst things you can put on an RV. Silicon, by nature, is slick, long lasting and virtually impervious to anything sticking to it; even itself. Those properties make re-sealing virtually impossible (for any lasting repair) and almost impossible to remove. There are "silicon removers" out there, but, even they don't remove it all and getting anything to re-adhere over where silicon was is a hit or miss proposition. Silicon also migrates on its own. I am retired from the medical research system and we did an experiment one time with silicon spray. We sprayed it on a track for an MRI scanner. Within one week we found traces of silicon 10' away. In a month, we found traces of silicon on virtually the entire scanner, both inside and out. I, personally, don't own anything that contains silicon for that reason. PTFE sprays are much better and don't migrate.

Butyl rubber compounds are what you want to use on your RV. Very tenacious, difficult to work with and generally a PIA, but, once on they seal very well, hold up extremely well and can be reapplied over itself. Most of the RV type adhesive/sealants (eternabond, dicor, etc.) are variants of the butyl rubber type caulks; some are synthetics, some are very thin for flow on flat roofing surfaces, but, the behaviour is much the same. Most of the "made for RV" type caulks and sealants are heavy in the anti-UV additives to make them even more durable in constant exposure to the elements.

[Offspring22]

Originally Posted by yyogi22

do you still think this solvent would work?

I don't know what they used on my 06 189FD from the factory - but some silicone remover made it pretty easy to remove!

[webslave]

Silicone remover will work...silicone is very difficult to remove totally, so, any remover designed to do that is going to be potent. Maybe too potent (I would try other less powerful removers), in that it may actually eat into the filon a bit, but, it will work. The aim in using any "remover" is to use the least powerful agent available that will do the job, and that is true for anything from the RV to cleaning rugs. I've got removers that are really good at removing grease, but, if I were to use them on the carpet to remove some grease, they would dissolve the fibers and remove the color (ask me how I know ).

[yyogi22]

The substance in question is actually butyl rubber i found out and is applied as a tape at the factory. The strips that cover the corners on the outside can actually be removed if you take the plastic strip out of the center. There are screws that run the entire length that hold it on. Once off the camper you can easily remove the old rubber and put a new strip on. I honestly didnt feel like turning this into that kind of job though so i just scraped/peeled off all the loose stuff that i could, which was actually almost both whole seams in the front and used sonolastic clear 25 thermoplastic adhesive and sealant to go over all the remaining seals and fill in the areas where i had removed the old. I did this two days ago and everything looks good so far. Only time will tell though. I plan on letting the camper sit the full 14 days for that to cure. That should also give the dicor enough time to cure before i put the eternabond on the roof. Im planning on erecting a pole shed to store the camper out of the elements when not in use.